Contents

The opening is a photo mosaic of flashback clips, which zoom out to form a yellow "25" logo, with a blue background and several multicolored squares for confetti. This is also seen as the Pat & Vanna talk backdrop, although the 25 is blue, as well as on the Bonus Round envelopes. The opening logo contains a silver two-row logo under the "25", the only time that the logo has a hole in the R.

Wheel,Jeopardy!, and other King World shows are now currently produced by CBS Television Distribution.

The Prize Puzzle graphic is now a globe with the words PRIZE PUZZLE written in yellow, with a blue background.

The Jackpot and Mystery wipes are now the respective wedges flipping and dropping down into place on the Wheel. Both wipes have said wedges dropping onto the orange $800. The Jackpot wipe remains unchanged through Season 29, and the Mystery wipe remains through Season 31, despite changes to the Wheel template and Mystery Wedge design in the interim.

The Wheel is altered again:

The second Bankrupt moves to the yellow $300.

Two special wedges are also added to honor the show's 25th nighttime season: a "25" prize and the Big Money Wedge.

The second Bankrupt is now always removed after Round 3.

Hitting the green $300 with Free Spin now offers both it and $300 per letter. To reflect this change, the token is moved upward to obscure the dollar sign instead of the 3. Also, the disc remains on the Wheel through Round 3.

The minimum value for Wheel and Prize Puzzle prizes increases to $5,000.

The Jackpot sponsor's logo is no longer shown on the Jackpot display.

The Round 3 "drop down" graphic's rectangles gain an "embossed" effect, and their tops become less rounded.

Many episodes begin with a pre-recorded greeting from a celebrity, congratulating the show on its 25th Anniversary. Others show a flashback clip leading into the first commercial break, while some have a special "cold open": In the make-up room, $5K, an African-American man dressed as the $5,000 wedge, complains to Pat that he is to be "landed on" during every Final Spin. Pat clarifies to him (calling him by his other name of "Money") that that's not how it works, despite him trying his best to do so. Vanna comes in and says "He's right, you know", to which Pat sighs "I know, I know; it's just so much pressure!" cued to laughter before opening the show. Besides $5K, there are also 26 people dressed up as each letter; this is also seen during the trip to New York City. The following letters are promoted: C, E, G, I, J, N, Y, and Z.

Many of the music cues change:

A new rock-based theme composed by John Hoke debuts for use in the opening, with the 2006 "Happy Wheels" remaining as the closing theme.

Even though it had changed only in February, the Speed-Up music changes again.

The last of Steve Kaplan's compositions are retired: his 2000 Bonus Round puzzle solve cue and 2002 Bonus Round win cue. These are replaced by cues that remain until the music package is overhauled in January 2017.

As of this season, Charlie no longer does the spiel for the Bonus Round prizes.

The puzzle board monitors are replaced with flat-screen LCDs.

For this season only, the Bonus Round envelopes are silver and feature the Season 25 logo on their outsides.

Only two locales are now used on road shows.

A fifth week of sixth-show taping is added for each season. Four of the five in this season make up the Thanks a Million Sweepstakes in February, and do not use any theme names beyond that.

As of this season with only one exception, Bonus Round wins no longer include slow-motion replays.

Very strangely, Merv's death is never mentioned on the show.

To honor the show's 25th anniversary, the official Wheel website contains a mini-site that reflects on the show's history, while the Wheel Watchers Club site has a special Flashback Moments archive, in which there are video clips, and members may answer a 4-choice question about the clip, with a correct answer earning them 10 Sony Rewards Points. The latter site is still active until the show's website is redesigned on February 24, 2014.

Throughout this season, Pat sometimes throws to Charlie by saying, "Hey, Charlie, I got a message for you…"

The contestant score displays are upgraded to enlarged plasma screens.

The scoreboards show the 25th Anniversary logo in the opening.

For this week of taping only, they display the score in very tall numbers. The contestant's name is in very small letters over the score, and the control is indicated by the name blinking.

The Bankrupt and Lose A Turn graphics now appear and disappear in varying ways.

If Lose A Turn is hit, those words are now on two lines of the scoreboard instead of one.

"Big Money" is placed over the score if the contestant has the Big Money wedge.

The WHEEL, OF, and FORTUNE graphics on the scoreboards (now only seen during the final segment) are enlarged and changed to the actual font of the show's logo.

The Wheel is now preset at the start of the show. For this week only, it is preset so that the yellow flipper is on the 25 Wedge in Rounds 1 and 2 and the Big Money Wedge in Round 3.

The Free Spin is still placed over the 3 instead of the dollar sign on the green $300 in Rounds 1 and 2; this is corrected in Round 3.

A spin from another episode's Round 4 is edited into Round 3. The contestant lands on the red $800, but the post-production clip shows the orange $800. This dubbed-in spin is more obvious as both Mystery Wedges, the Free Spin, and the second Bankrupt are missing from it.

The $3,000 Toss-Up and Bonus Round are In the Kitchen, the only duplication of that category until February 2018.

There is a $100,000 loss.

On September 12:

What Are You Doing? debuts in Round 3.

The first overhead shot of Round 3 appears to be a reshoot, as the Wild Card is absent despite being present for the rest of the round.

September 17 is Casino Night, taped in Culver City with the slot machine background from the February 2005 Vegas shows. During this week, Vanna announces the Mystery prize through footage shot at casinos.

On September 17:

The contestant names are removed from the scoreboards, while the scores themselves are moved upward and changed to the current font. This change was done most likely because the font used on the 10th was often blocked by the Wheel pegs, and the names were too hard to read. In the space below the score, two blinking arrows pointing at each other are added. They appear whenever the respective player has control or rings in on a Toss-Up. The scoreboards still show the 25th Anniversary Logo in the opening, "Lose A Turn" continues to display on two lines, and the varied wipes for Lose A Turn and Bankrupt are kept.

The "Big Money" logo is now placed over the scoreboards at the beginning of Round 3.

The 25 Wedge is now only available in Round 2. As a result, the yellow flipper is now preset to $2,500 in Round 1.

Cash values won on the Big Money wedge can now be used to buy vowels. Also, the scoreboard no longer shows "Big Money" over the contestant's score if the contestant has an amount from it.

On September 19, contestant Becki loses $33,450 in cash and a $6,296 Caribbean trip by adding an "-ES" to the puzzle GLEAMING WHITE SAND BEACH.

On September 25, there is an $8,250 Jackpot win.

On September 26:

Round 1 is a Same Name puzzle that spells out AND.

Round 2 is Movie Title, and the $3,000 Toss-Up is Title.

In the Kitchen makes its final appearance in the Bonus Round until September 2017.

On September 27, contestant Ruth picks up all of the available cardboard in Round 1 except the Gift Tag (the $10,000 Wedge, the Prize, the Free Spin, and the Wild Card). She wins the round with $30,250 including a Prize Puzzle trip. She uses the Free Spin in Round 3 only to flip the Bankrupt Mystery Wedge on her next turn, forfeiting her Wild Card.

Wheel episodes aired beyond this point feature a new CBS Television Distribution closing logo to complement that of Sony Pictures Television.

On October 1, there is an unusual instance in the Mystery Round. A contestant hits a Mystery Wedge, calls a letter that reveals the puzzle entirely, then flips the Mystery Wedge to find a Bankrupt on the other side. As a result, the completely filled-in puzzle gets passed on to the next contestant, who solves it.

On October 2, six rounds are played.

On October 4:

Rounds 1 and 2 are played entirely by the person who began them.

The second-place contestant has $22,100.

There is a $100,000 loss.

On October 8, there is a $100,000 loss.

On October 9, there is a $7,750 Jackpot win.

On October 12:

The 2004 opening theme is accidentally used in the intro.

After finding $10,000 on the reverse of a Mystery Wedge, contestant Erica hits the other one on her next spin. Pat prompts her to use the Wild Card on it, which she does.

The first, third, and fourth spins of Round 3 appear to be added in post-production, as evidenced by sudden disappearances and reappearances of the Free Spin and Prize wedge.

All ten Bonus Rounds are lost on the weeks of October 1 and 8.

October 15 is College Road Trip Week. During this week:

A double-width $2,500 cash space is used for the first of only four weeks this season; it extends counterclockwise over the purple $600 and has its numbers arranged horizontally. For all four weeks of use, it has a sponsor whose logo appears on the wedge; this week's sponsor is Sony Card.

The contestants introduce themselves from the audience railing.

On October 15, a special People category honoring that magazine debuts in Round 1. The category strip uses the magazine's logo. To avoid confusion, People is not used in this timespan, although Person is still used.

On October 16:

A cycle of three lost turns is edited out of Round 1 despite not being "null", as it included an incorrect vowel (E) from contestant Doug, evidenced by his score instantly changing from $2,500 to $2,250. The cycle was likely cut due to the first three rounds running overtime.

All three contestants hit Bankrupt consecutively in Round 1, though only the third one (by Doug) is actually aired due to the first two being part of the aforementioned cycle that was edited out.

On October 18, for the first known time since the consolation cash prize was introduced in Season 20, a contestant wins no cash: Specifically, contestant Amber solves Round 3 with only the Gift Tag, and no other puzzles.

During the week of October 22, the double-width $2,500 is used, with Dawn dish soap as the sponsor.

On October 23, Round 3 is the only appearance of What Are We Making? The puzzle is HERSHEY BAR GRAHAM CRACKER GOOEY ROASTED MARSHMALLOW, which the contestant correctly identifies as the ingredients to S'mores. This is the third known "official" category to be used only once. At 46 letters, this is also believed to be the longest puzzle ever used on the show in terms of letters, but not in terms of total spaces used.

On October 25:

Rounds 1-4 are played entirely by the contestants who began them, although the Free Spin is used in Round 4.

There is a $100,000 loss.

October 22 and 26 are believed to be the first occasion of contestants calling U in the Bonus Round twice in one month, much less one week. The former is also the first U called there since December 12, 2006.

On October 29:

The Big Money Wedge is re-colored royal blue, with a lighter blue readout and five vertical rows of red dots on its bottom half.

The second Big Money Wedge.

For the second known time, a contestant wins the Mystery Round with only the Mystery prize.

The bonus puzzle RUGBY is the first five-letter bonus puzzle since September 26, 2006. The contestant solves it despite getting no help from their extra letters.

On October 30, the $1,000 Toss-Up is Song Title, and Round 1 is TV Title.

November 5 is Best Friends Week. It is third week to use the double-width $2,500, sponsored by Febreze.

November 12 is People Celebrity Week. This is the only celebrity week since Celebrity Week in Season 15 not to have a specific "theme" to the celebrities used, and the last week to have celebrity/civilian pairings. The celebrities are Neil Patrick Harris, Diane Neal, and Robert Gossett on Monday; Paula Deen, Steve Schirripa, and Sherri Shepherd on Tuesday; Sandra Lee, Montel Williams, and Kristan Cunningham on Wednesday; Jeff Probst, Paige Hemmis, and Alison Sweeney on Thursday; and Gina Tognoni, Jacob Young, and Robin Strasser on Friday. During this week:

During the intro, each celebrity walks onstage while Charlie describes them.

The double-width $2,500 is used for the last time, sponsored by Maxwell House.

On November 13, a contestant uses the Wild Card on the Big Money wedge while it is showing $7,500.

November 19 is Heroes Week, which consists of men and women who have done good to New York City. As a result, this set of New York episodes is the only known instance of a road show having no "normal" matches.

On November 23:

Round 3 is the last appearance of People.

Nobody solves the $3,000 Toss-Up, ROBIN REDBREAST. The cameras cut to Pat after the time's-up buzzer, and unusually, back to a full shot of the puzzle board with the answer still on it.

From around this point until the end of the season, the flashback clips are always seen Mondays and Wednesdays, and the celebrity messages always Tuesdays and Thursdays.

On November 26, the "regular" People category returns, in Round 1.

On November 28, the Prize is an electronics package consisting of an HDTV, stereo system, DVD player, and Blu-Ray player, plus DVD and Blu-Ray copies of the Sony Pictures Animation film Surf's Up. It is very likely that a trailer for the film is also shown.

The week of December 3 is Wheel Across America, just like the week of December 3, 2001 was.

On December 4, there is a $7,200 Jackpot win.

On December 6, Rounds 1-3 are played entirely by the person who began them.

On December 10, the bonus puzzle WIVES is the second five-letter bonus puzzle of the season.

On December 14, contestant Sam solves the Speed-Up puzzle COUNTRY ROADS TAKE ME HOME with only the N and T's showing.

On December 19, six rounds are played.

On December 21, there is a $100,000 win.

The holiday-themed week of December 24 is Happy Holidays for the first time since Season 22. Both it and the week of the 17th use identical props on the set, which were also seen on the Denver episodes in 2006.

The week of December 24 starts the tradition of playing a rock version of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" during the credits of Christmas Week, which continues through Season 30.

On December 24:

Rhyme Time makes its only appearance in the Bonus Round between March 2006 and May 2011.

The final segment is a reunion of the three contestants who appeared on Pat's first show (December 28, 1981), with clips shown from that episode.

On December 26, the puzzle board refuses to activate for several seconds during the $1,000 Toss-Up.

On December 27:

The $1,000 Toss-Up and Round 3 are What Are You Doing? This is the only duplication of that category that does not involve the Bonus Round. Even more unusually, neither puzzle appears to be a replacement.

There is a $100,000 loss.

On December 28, the Prize is a $5,000 Michael C. Fina gift certificate.

All five Bonus Rounds are lost on the week of December 24.

On December 31, a contestant mispronounces the Prize Puzzle TUNING A UKULELE by putting long E's in the word "ukulele", but her answer is accepted.

On January 9, What Are You Doing? appears in the Bonus Round for the first time.

On January 14, contestant Jill loses $26,950 to Bankrupt in Round 3.

On January 17, What Are You Doing? appears in the Bonus Round for the second time; it does not reappear there until December 2010.

On January 18:

The third-place contestant has $13,100.

Round 3 and the Bonus Round are Food & Drink.

On January 21, there is a $6,100 Jackpot win.

On January 22, a contestant says both "boxing" and "fan" at various points during the Bonus Round, but never says the right answer of BOXING FAN.

January 28 is Teen Best Friends Week.

On January 30:

The Round 1 puzzle EAT FRESH (Slogan) is a now-rare maingame puzzle that is shorter than 10 letters.

A team solves the aforementioned puzzle, completely revealed, as "Subway, eat fresh". There is likely an edit before their answer is ruled correct, and they receive the $3,000 bonus for identifying the product. This goes against precedent that puzzles have to be solved exactly as they appear on the board.

Perhaps as a consequence of this incident, Slogan is retired after this episode (although it appears again on February 19 due to that episode being taped before this one), and the few remaining "$3,000 bonus" categories are phased out over the next several months.

In Round 3, Pat does not prompt the blue team to use their Wild Card on $3,500 despite having picked it up only one turn prior. The card is never used and the team loses by $9,200.

The $3,000 Toss-Up is a non-sequitur answer of TWISTER & CLUE, two games which are extremely unrelated to each other.

The bonus puzzle ICING is the last five-letter bonus puzzle until November 28, 2011.

The weeks of February 4-25 are the Thanks a Million Sweepstakes. All episodes in this timespan are sixth episodes. After the first commercial break (or the second if Round 1 is a Prize Puzzle) and Bonus Round, a SPIN ID is drawn, and the owner of that SPIN ID wins $25,000. Since there are 40 over those 4 weeks, that makes $1,000,000 total. During these episodes, the center-stage video wall displays the Season 25 logo during the opening and closing.

On February 4, as it is the sixth episode from the season premiere week, some elements are different from surrounding episodes: the scoreboards use the shorter numbers and names, the 25 Wedge is in Round 1, and the Big Money Wedge uses its original design.

On February 8, there is a $6,700 Jackpot win.

All five Bonus Rounds are lost on the week of February 4.

On February 11:

As it is the sixth episode from College Road Trip, three college students play. Unlike the rest of said week, the double-width $2,500 wedge is not used.

The original Big Money Wedge is used. However, some overhead shots in Round 3 are reconstructed to show the newer design.

When contestant Jessica lands on the Mystery Wedge between $900 and $300, an overhead shot of the other Mystery Wedge (obviously filmed in post-production, as the second Bankrupt is missing in this shot) is shown instead. Just before she flips it over, the overhead shot goes back to showing the correct wedge.

Six rounds are played.

The players' totals are still displayed during the Final Spin at the start of Round 6. The scoreboards are cleared before the Wheel stops.

On February 13:

BUYING A VOWEL is the $1,000 Toss-Up.

Contestant Jasmine solves Round 1 with only the $10,000 Wedge.

After Round 3's Prize Puzzle HISTORIC OPERA HOUSE, Pat accidentally tells contestant Jasmine that she is going to Sydney, Australia instead of Vienna, Austria, but corrects himself after Charlie reads the prize copy. After this, Jasmine's scoreboard shows $13,550 instead of $18,550 due to the value of the trip not being added.

Before the $3,000 Toss-Up, Pat corrects Jasmine's score, then points out that the scoreboard on the Used Letter Board displays her Prize Puzzle trip as Jamaica. This results in the Used Letter Board being shown onscreen for the first known time.

There is a $100,000 loss.

On February 18, the Round 3 puzzle I LIKE IT I LOVE IT I WANT SOME MORE OF IT is categorized as Rhyme Time instead of Song Lyrics.

On February 19:

Round 2 is the last aired (and next-to-last taped) appearance of Slogan.

Pat eats a piece of cake throughout Round 3, and occasionally addresses contestants with his mouth full. This gag is a callback to earlier in the same episode, when he noticed one of the cameramen eating.

On February 25, Round 2 is the last instance until June 2012 of Author/Title being used instead of Title/Author.

On February 27:

In a rather unusual move, the episode is a sixth episode from the Teen Best Friends week of January 28.

Round 2 is the only known instance of Star & Role using a descriptive phrase, and the first of only two known instances of it being used for a voice acting role (EDDIE MURPHY AS THE VOICE OF SHREK'S PAL DONKEY).

On February 28, contestant Hannah is brought back due to an error on her first episode. This is the last known instance of this until November 2018.

The Round 3 puzzle NEIL DIAMOND'S SWEET CAROLINE is the last use of Artist/Song instead of Song/Artist.

The bonus puzzle BUYING POWER is categorized as Thing. The last time this answer was used (April 13, 2004), it was categorized as Phrase.

On March 4, the $1,000 Toss-Up is Movie Title, and Round 4 is Song Title.

On March 6, Lesly appears in the final segment to promote a line of Wheel-themed jewelry that she designed.

On March 7, a contestant exceeds $100,000 without hitting that amount: after winning a Winnebago in the Bonus Round, they leave with $102,864.

On March 11:

Vanna wears a shirt and pants.

Six rounds are played; Round 6 is SOLITAIRE, a very rare instance of a maingame puzzle shorter than 10 letters.

There is a $100,000 loss by a contestant who says the answer just after the buzzer.

On March 14, six rounds are played.

The week of March 17 is QVC Shopping Spree Week. During this week, the Prize is $5,000 towards the purchase of QVC merchandise.

On March 19, two males play.

On March 20, there is an $8,800 Jackpot win.

All ten Bonus Rounds are lost on the weeks of March 10 and 17. The latter week is particularly notable, as any Bonus Round win that week would have offered $10,000 in QVC merchandise on the contestant's birthday.

On March 24, there is a $100,000 win.

The week of March 31 is Wheel Around the World. Respectively, brief clips of the versions of France, Turkey, the Philippines, Spain, and Italy are shown.

On March 31, there is a $100,000 loss, setting a new record of eight $100,000 losses in one season.

With only three wins and 18 losses, March 2008 may have produced the fewest Bonus Round wins of any month in the show's history.

On April 1, as an April Fools' Day gag, Pat fools Vanna into thinking that he is actually bald. As revealed later in the week (possibly the 2nd), he achieves this by wearing a real wig over a bald wig. The prank is removed when the episode is rerun in July.

On April 2, there are two sets of duplicate categories: the $1,000 Toss-Up and Round 3 are Fun & Games, while Round 4 and the Bonus Round are Phrase.

April 7 is the first Going Green Week, which occurs around this time every season until Season 28.

On April 9, two males play.

By April 9, contestants can no longer use the Wild Card on any of the Big Money Wedge's cash amounts, except for the regular $1,000.

Between April 7 and 10, the contestant in the blue position is the top winner for four days in a row.

April 14 is the first Pet Lovers Week, in which contestants show off pictures of their pets during the interview (except on sixth episodes).

On April 17, Round 3 is the last appearance of Next Line Please.

In the six weeks of episodes between March 10 and April 18, only four Bonus Rounds are won.

On April 21, a contestant wins by $50.

On April 23:

Round 3 is the last appearance of Who Is It?

Contestant Trashawna loses $35,000 (the $10,000 Mystery Wedge and $25,000 from the Big Money Wedge) to Bankrupt, which may be a record.

On April 24, contestant Kim tries to turn in her Free Spin while the Final Spin bells sound. Pat declines, noting that the bells sounded first.

Contestant Mary Katherine solves the Round 6 puzzle SISTER ACT (categorized as Show Biz, as Movie Title had been used in Round 1) with only the S's showing.

The weeks of April 28-May 12 are taped at Navy Pier in Chicago. During all three weeks, the on-screen bug says just "Chicago", with part of the Wheel forming the first C as seen at right (photo taken from a piece of clothing).

During the week of April 28 (College Week):

For the only known time since 1998, the audience does the opening chant.

The Northwestern University marching band plays music going into and out of commercial breaks.

On April 28:

Contestant Erika solves Round 1 with only the $10,000 Wedge.

Erika says "mytholo-" in the Bonus Round, stops, then appears to say the answer MYTHOLOGY on the buzzer. After an obvious edit, Pat says that the buzzer beat her. Unusually, a long shot of the set (from over Pat's shoulder) is used as the answer is revealed.

On May 2, Fictional Character appears in the Bonus Round for the last time until September 20, 2017.

May 5 is Family Week.

Between May 6 and 13, the car is hit six times in a row in the Bonus Round.

On May 6, Round 4 is the last appearance of Classic TV until April 2, 2010.

On May 8:

Pat tells the red team in Round 1 that T has already been called despite the only prior aired calls being N and M, indicating that a "null" cycle including a T was edited out.

For no particular reason, all of the puzzles are very short, with the longest one (EXPERIMENTAL THEATER) at only 19 letters.

A team exceeds $100,000 without hitting that amount; after winning a pair of Buick Enclaves in the Bonus Round, they leave with $100,304.

On May 9:

The Round 3 puzzle CHICAGO'S OWN JOHN & JOAN CUSACK is the first of only two known instances of Family adding a descriptive term.

Once again, a team exceeds $100,000 (specifically, $116,358) by winning a pair of Buick Enclaves in the Bonus Round.

May 12 is Get in the Game week, taped March 9, themed to Chicago sports teams.

On May 13:

Contestant Kevin gives incorrect answers to Rounds 2, 3, and 4.

The winning contestant leaves with only $8,750.

On May 15, two males play.

At some point on one of the Chicago tapings, an Eli's cheesecake is brought out. Unlike its Season 19 predecessor, the layout is the same as the show's layout with two double-sized "25" Wedges on opposite sides and two red Eli's wedges.

On May 19:

Round 4 (SIGN LANGUAGE INTERPRETER) is the longest puzzle. It is not known why shorter puzzles were used in Rounds 1-3, as the game did not run overly long and a fifth round was played.

Contestant Mandi wins no cash, as she solves Round 3 with only the Gift Tag, and no other puzzles.